A Konoha Couple: Shikamaru's story
by magetalia
Summary: No one said marriage would be easy. And for two personalities as different and opposite as Shikamaru and Temari, the pair is thrown in for a loop when they hit their first major argument. Conflciting emotions, honesty and love at its finest. ShikamaruXTemari, ShikaTema. Rated M for language and adult themes.
1. ChapterOne

_Author's notes: _

_So regarding this story, the time is set in between Shippuden, similar to my other Naruto stories, except this time I'll be focusing on a different Naruto pairing this time. My main goals when I write these kinds of stories are to be as close to reality as possible, meaning I attempt to write these characters exactly how they would act in the actual show, the only difference is that they are placed in a situation we do not get to see in the canon story. I only try to further explore the character, not change them completely, like I've seen in so many other fanfics. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but this is just my own personal writing style. And as I guess you guys can tell by the title, it's focusing on Shikamaru and Temari and their relationship. Shikamaru is a person who is logical and calculated, and in a sense has a somewhat "lazy" mindset if that makes sense. I wanted to see how a personality such as his would clash with personality such as Temari, who obviously had an entirely different upbringing being raised in the Hidden Sand and her time with Gaara and all. Shikadai is here as well, so I'll see how I'll try and play with that as for intertwining him with the story. So anyway, sorry for rambling, just wanted you all to go into this with a clear understanding. Enjoy!_

Rated M for language, adult themes and mild sexual content. Read at your own discretion

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters

Shikamaru headed home from the Hokage's office, tired after having to spend a day there. Lord Sixth Kakashi had assigned him with a tight schedule this week, and Shikamaru had enough on his hands as it was. That's what he got for being the most intelligent ninja in the village. No matter how much he tried to hide it, nobody could deny Shikamaru's genius-level intellect, and it was an asset that Kakashi planned to use to its fullest. And therefore, Shikamaru was assigned a busy week. What a drag.

Shikamaru was headed home with his eyes drooped and his head low, but he knew that complaining would get him nowhere, and his job was his job. And for more practical reasoning, it _paid_, and Shikamaru reminded himself of that now. Like it or not, he needed money. Sometimes he still wished he _was _a cloud.

As Shikamaru came up to the front of his house, he opened the door and was met with instant regret. The moment he closed the door behind him Temari called for him from the kitchen, sounding quite annoyed. _Oh, shit, _Shikamaru thought. _I have a wife. What a drag! _

A million things ran through Shikamaru's head, half of them thinking about what it could possibly be that made his wife angry, and the other half using that aforementioned genius-level intellect to find a way out of this situation without serious injury. Shikamaru took one more deep breath before stepping out from the safe shadows of the hallway into the light of the kitchen and his wife's icy glare.

"Where have you been?" She said, her tone sharper than the knife in her hand. Shikamaru wondered why she had a cooking knife in her hand. She didn't seem to be cooking anything, which unnerved him slightly. Ticked off that he didn't answer right away, Temari repeated her question, with greater force this time.

"Shikamaru!" She said, demanding his full attention. "Where. Have. You. Been." Shikamaru forced a nervous smile. "Work," he said, frozen in place by her stare. "Where else would I be?" He asked, attempting to be playful. He regretted those words the second they left his mouth, as Temari instantly took it as sarcasm and had an answer loaded and ready to fire back at him.

"Maybe you should've been at your own _son's _birthday party?" She said, pointing to the bundle in a blanket sitting idly on the sofa watching the TV.

_Holy shit, _Shikamaru thought. _I have a son. What an absolute drag! _

Her words instantly stung him with guilt and regret. The guilt coming from his natural instincts as a parent, mad at himself for neglecting his son. And the regret mostly coming from the impending wrath that his wife would surely wreak upon him.

The genius shinobi finally came to the most efficient way out of this situation: honesty. At this point, no amount of lies or excuses could save him.

"Temari," He began uncertainly. "I'm sorry I missed it, I was just..." he stopped himself, realizing that he was about to go into an excuse, which she would not like at all. Instead, a small detail caught his attention, and in a flimsy attempt to reason with her, spoke without thinking.

"Wasn't it an all kids and moms party?" He asked. Temari scowled.

"Naruto showed up with Boruto and Hinata, Shikamaru!" She was outright yelling now._ "_He came and dropped off a gift for _your _son, stayed for about ten minutes, and the left. _Naruto, _Shikamaru! Who is working to become _Hokage. _What excuse do you even have? That's the busiest man in the village after Lord Sixth himself!" She said.

_Not exactly true, _Shikamaru thought to himself, but he felt like this wasn't really a good time to mention that. Temari slammed the hand that wasn't holding the knife on the counter. Shikamaru could swear he felt a gust of wind resonate from her as she did so. Temari herself took a deep breath and stared at him, clearly not wanting to have an outburst with Shikadai present. She locked her gaze on him.

_Later, _her eyes seemed to say. She walked back to the kitchen corner to slide the knife into the holder before starting to wash her hands, losing interest in her husband. Shikamaru took this as a chance to escape and quietly went up the stairs, leaving a silent Temari and a mostly uninterested but slightly confused Shikadai down in the living room.

Shikamaru took a shower, and dressed in his pajamas. Tying up his hair, he stared at himself in the mirror. He sure wasn't a cloud.

_I have a family, _he thought_. I _am_ a drag._

_..._

Temari was enraged. The mere thought of him was ready to drive her insane. Why him, she wondered. Why him of all people, that she chose to be with, chose to leave her home for, chose to have a child with. If she was to be completely honest, the last one was a bit of an accident, but it was still a choice nonetheless. And it was one that she made.

She was beyond angry at Shikamaru for missing Shikadai's birthday today. _Especially _this birthday. Shikadai was turning three, and it was the first birthday that her family was not able to attend. She received a letter addressed to her from her home a few days earlier. On it were the words of a stressed out Kankuro expressing his apologies on behalf of himself and Gaara, who had been consumed by his own work. Temari was considerably saddened by the news, and so was Shikadai at the fact that his uncles would not be present. Upon hearing this, Ino, Hinata, and some other moms helped put up a special birthday party for Shikadai and helped Temari out with some of her errands to finish up her own work as well, which she was really grateful for. What made her mad was this entire time her friends were helping out, her own husband was completely unaware of her entire situation, _and _unaware of his son's own birthday. The tipping point was realizing that he wasn't coming to the party, only to see that Hinata arrived with even _Naruto, _who had apparently made enough time from his own busy schedule to simply make an appearance, which wasn't much, but the gesture was appreciated. As the festivities went along, Temari boiled inside.

And worst of all, Shikadai. Oh, her baby Shikadai. Becoming a mother was truly an eye-opening and amazing experience for her. The first time she held her son in her arms she felt an emotion run through her that she had never felt before. In her eyes, her son was the absolute most perfect thing in the world. A pity that her husband didn't share that sentiment. Or so she thought.

She contemplated leaving. It wasn't the first time Shikamaru's actions had resulted in something like this before. And his attitude wasn't much better. He looked like he treated everything like a chore. He acted like they weren't even there, like she and Shikadai didn't even exist. All he cared about was work, food and sleep. And even before all of these issues involving Shikadai, Shikamaru's attitude towards _her _was even worse! He barely thanked her, never looked like he appreciated her. Even back when they were dating, Shikamaru was never one for openly admitting emotion or affection. Admittedly, she was mostly drawn by his laid-back personality, which at that time she thought was the coolest thing in the world, now less so, and his looks. Shikamaru was an attractive and accomplished shinobi, how could she not fall for him? On Shikamaru's side, he had been interested in the blond ever since he first went against her in the Chunin exams, and seeing that she was basically royalty and quite a good-looking gal herself, he let himself be driven by youthful impulse, and made some decisions that didn't quite reflect his intellect well.

And thus, they wed, and for a decision as big as marriage, some real thought actually had to be put in, but the two of them still went at this new and confusing venture naive and unexperienced. The moment doors closed and they were stuck under the same roof their personalities clashed, most of the time only getting fixed through youthful vigor and the physical pleasure they found themselves indulging in when night fell. Other than that, they were still yet to achieve the real, legitimate emotional bond that was essential for the roles of husband and wife, other than a physical one. And once Shikadai came along, they fell even more behind as they yet again failed to establish the strong united bond of mother and father.

Temari was stressed. She finished cleaning up and then sat on her desk to work on some other things she was given from Kankuro in the letter she received. Stopping for a moment, she turned her head and stared at her son, still sitting on the couch. She felt like a gigantic hole was just gouged right into her soul, and seeing her small son sitting alone wrapped in a blanket in the middle of the sofa made her want to cry. His eyes were focused on the TV screen, but he had bundled himself into the blanket, and only his cute little face poked through, a splitting image of her husband's. He just looked so _lonely_, his eyes so plain. It broke her heart to see her precious baby like this. No matter how old or how big he may get, he'll always be her baby, that was just the way a mother thinks. She can never see her child with nothing but undying love. Soon enough Temari was staring through blurred vision as tears eventually did start rolling down her face, her cheeks flushed red. Her lip curled and she felt furious for her sudden rush of emotion, turning away quickly and burying her face into her sleeve, not wanting Shikadai to see.

Shikamaru, however, who was just coming down the stairs, _did _see Temari's little outburst, and almost immdeiately he felt like turning around and ducking back into the safety of his room. He was quite alright with missing dinner if it meant not angering his wife more. His feelings were a mix of frustration and guilt. Shikamaru _did _truly care about her, whether he denied it or not. He found it difficult to express his own feelings, and maybe that rubbed off on Temari the wrong way. Yes, he was being neglectful and irresponsible. But he'd never do it intentionally to hurt her, or intentionally hurt his son. Shikadai was a breath of fresh air for him as well, and he quite frankly did not know how to deal with it. He cared but was unable to properly express it, and when he did try it almost always resulted awkwardly or badly. And on top of that his work was at a point where it never left his mind. Struggling with both emotional and physical turmoil, the boy-genius felt like he was meeting his first real challenge. The reason why it was such a difficult trial was because, for the first time in his life, practical logic could not find him an answer.

Shikamaru ducked back behind the overhand, trying to avoid being seen. But the quick movement caught Temari's eye as her vision cleared, and she had a good guess to what it is he was doing. Avoiding her. She almost went back to being angry. He saw her sad, distraught, and vulnerable, and instead of manning up and making an effort to try and make up with her or comfort her, he runs away.

Temari took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. She had to keep it together, for Shikadai. She'd deal with Shikamaru for her whole life if it meant that Shikadai could grow up with both his parents. And deep down, she still harbored plenty of undeniable love and care for Shikamaru. He was her first love, someone who'd always have a special place in her heart no matter what he did. And because of her prideful nature, she hated him for it.

"Hey," she said, her voice still cracking. "I know you're behind there," Shikamaru still didn't come down, instead pressing himself against the rail and hoping she'd just forget about him. Temari sniffed one last time.

"_Hey_," she said, slightly louder. "Come eat your dinner. I know you haven't eaten all day."

With that Shikamaru braced himself and finally walked came down. He saw the food set up on the table and walked over silently, trying to avoid eye contact, grateful for her kindness, and feeling terrible for upsetting her. He sat down and ate quietly, not wanting to attract unnecessary attention. The room felt tense, and unfortunately, this was not the first time such an atmosphere had descended upon their house.

Shikamaru finished eating, deep in thought, and Temari tried not to think about why she was still feeding him despite everything that he had done. After a while, Shikadai started to feel sleepy, and Temari finished up her work to go and take him to bed. Shikamaru was left downstairs on the table, finally able to be comfortable with his wife out of site. He grabbed a blanket from the closet and threw it on the couch, knowing full well that he'd probably be better off leaving Temari alone tonight. He brushed his teeth and got ready for bed before sitting on his desk for a few more minutes, going over a couple of things from work.

…

Temari laid by herself on the bed. She had put Shikadai to bed and taken a much-needed hot shower, easing off all the tense muscles of that day. She dressed in a loose sleeping gown and got herself ready for bed, throwing herself on the empty mattress. Now wrapped in her blanket, alone and in the dark with nothing but a small nightlight, she realized how lonely she was.

It wasn't the first time she slept alone. In fact, she slept alone quite often. Whenever Shikamaru would sleep beside her, she'd usually already be fast asleep, and by the time she woke up, Shikamaru was already up and gone.

Despite her usually tough and cold exterior, Temari hated feeling cold. She had two blankets on top of her and a fluffy pillow on her head but she still felt like the cold air was reaching her. _I guess I'm still not used to living in Konoha_, she thought. Or maybe she just missed the feeling of Shikamaru next to her. He was sleeping on the couch again, she realized. Running away again instead of confronting the problem. But instead of getting angry, Temari just felt sad. She might have been a little rough on him, but she was really just frustrated and hurt. All too often she let her anger cloud her judgement and lead her actions. It was in silent moments like this that she usually looked at the situation through different eyes.

Of the many things that Shikamaru was, inconsiderate was something that he was not. Temari could firmly believe that the Shikamaru downstairs was as genuine as a person could be. Temari tried to understand her husband more, but often times she just hit a brick wall. His actions just seemed to get more and more inexcusable, and she was at her breaking point.

This too was one of the effects of Shikamaru and Temari's lack of clear communication. Shikamaru usually making cold and calculated decisions was unable to let his emotions lead his words. And Temari's misplaced sense of pride went against exposing herself in such a way. Unable to hear each other's side, the two both had greatly exaggerated misconceptions of one another. Temari thought he was lazy and ignorant, when in reality Shikamaru was just confused and stressed. Shikamaru thought that Temari was sensitive and prone to overreaction, when in reality she was just hurt and worried.

Temari tossed and turned in bed, trying to force herself to sleep. Downstairs, an exhausted Shikamaru got comfortable on the couch and fell asleep with the TV on. Across the hall, Shikadai snored and drooled on his small bed. The Nara household was peaceful and quiet for a moment, the three members letting go of the night's event's to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Temari woke up the next morning to find Shikamaru gone, his blanket on the floor where he had left it. Earlier Temari had been half awake to see Shikamaru enter their room once to get his clothes, but she was still too sleepy to say anything. Saddened once again as she thought about the dysfunction of her household, Temari walked over to the kitchen with a heavy heart as she began to prepare Shikadai's breakfast.

…

Shikamaru left a little extra early that morning. As he walked towards the Hokage's office nobody was even on the streets yet, a slight morning fog overlooking Konoha that morning.

Despite the early entrance, Shikamaru knew full well that Kakashi-sensei would be up by now. So would Naruto. In fact, as he showed up, they both looked a bit thankful for his early entry, immediately launching into a million work-related topics at once. Soon enough Shikamaru had too much work on his hands to even think about home, and before he even knew it, it was noon.

He was reminded of home again as he stopped to take a break for lunch, realizing that he had skipped breakfast earlier, so he was particularly hungry. As he opened the door out to the street to find some food, Naruto called out from behind him.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" he said, running after him. Shikamaru stopped and let Naruto catch up to him before moving again. "Mind if I join you for lunch?" Naruto asked him cheerfully.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, sure. Where did you want to go to eat?" he asked.

Naruto grinned and replied with a predictable answer. "Ichiraku, of course!"

As the two sat down in the newly renovated restaurant, Naruto eagerly ordered them two large servings, using the "free ramen for life" card that he had been gifted for his wedding. As the two began to eat, Naruto struck up a conversation, one that Shikamaru had been rather dreading.

"So how's you and Temari?" Naruto asked casually.

Shikamaru winced into his noodles. "Not very good, I'm afraid," he said.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked again, prying a bit. Shikamaru thought that maybe it would help if he talked his problem out to his friend. After all, Naruto _did _show up for the party like Temari said, and it sounded like Hinata was pretty happy, so maybe he could get a little advice from him.

"Well, I've been super busy lately, as you know," Shikamaru started. "and Kakashi-sensei just assigned me this busy week. I don't got anytime to think about anything other than work,"

Naruto chuckled as he ate one of the pork slices in his ramen. "I sure know that feeling," he said.

Shikamaru nodded. "And for a while now, I've just been really bad at keeping up with stuff at home, and yesterday I really messed up. I missed Shikadai's birthday yesterday, remember?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Wow, it's his birthday already? Kids sure grow up fast. Tell Shikadai I said happy birthday,"

Something that Naruto said just made Shikamaru stop. He put his chopsticks down for a second and looked at Naruto quizzically. "Wait. What do you mean 'it's his birthday already? Weren't you there yesterday?"

Naruto stopped mid-chew. "There where?" he asked through a full mouth.

"Shikadai's birthday party!" Shikamaru said, genuinely confused now. "Temari said you were there yesterday. If you were going, why didn't you tell me about it?"

Realization dawned on Naruto. "Ohhh, so that's what Hinata was talking about then," he said.

Shikamaru was lost. "Talking about what?"

Naruto looked a tiny bit guilty. "Uhh, well, turns out, the person that went to Shikadai's birthday party was not me," he said. "I was at the office all day, just like you. But Hinata kept pestering me about being somewhere yesterday, so to avoid her getting angry, I kind of… sent her a shadow clone to deal with it."

Shikamaru didn't know what to think after hearing this revelation. _You dumb bastard, Naruto, _he thought. _You have any idea how much of a drag you put me through last night? _He rested his forehead on his palm and groaned. Naruto just went back to eating.

"I'm assuming Hinata didn't know that was a clone right?" he asked. Naruto shook his head. Shikamaru dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. Naruto eyed him over his bowl.

"Did I do something?" he asked. "I'm really sorry if I did,"

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, no, you didn't do anything. It's just me and Temari. We're… not doing so well," he finished awkwardly.

Naruto stopped eating and turned his full attention on his friend. "What's wrong? Are you guys like… arguing a lot or…?" he left it like he wanted Shikamaru to fill in the rest of his sentence.

"We're not arguing, exactly," Shikamaru began. "But whenever I accidentally make her angry or something I just can't seem to find a way to make up with her. Back before Shikadai came along and it was just us, we usually just wasted away the problem by having fun at night or something. It would never really go away, and it would just keep recurring again and again. And then Shikadai came along and things just got worse," he finished heavily.

Naruto scratched his head. "So, she's mad at you for missing the birthday party then?"

Shikamaru nodded his head. "I guess for now, yeah,"

"Well, listen hear then, Shikamaru..." Naruto began. Shikamaru leaned forward, eager to hear any sort of advice that Naruto could offer.

In reality however, Naruto was in no place to give advice. He was panicking inside as he started speaking. _I got nothing to say, _Naruto thought. _If anything, I'm just as bad as he is! Shoot, I gotta think of something nice I can say to him. _

"I think that, if anything, you should really just... talk to her, y'know, really clear up anything between you guys," Naruto told him. "Do your best to become one, I suppose."

Shikamaru nodded thoughtfully. "I think that I understand. Thank you, Naruto," he smiled a bit at Naruto. "You know, you're not such a bad husband yourself."

Naruto didn't quite agree with him there. _If only you knew_, he thought. Naruto hadn't been home in nearly five days. But he was glad that he could give his friend a bit of somewhat functional advice.

...

Shikamaru headed back home that day deep in thought, still mulling over what Naruto has told him earlier that day. _Communication. _Who knew the answer was so simple? He decided that he would give it a try this evening.

As he stepped inside his house, the first thing he realized was that the house was almost completely silent. No sound of the television, no sound of the kitchen, and no sound of his wife or his son. Shikamaru walked into the living room to find nobody there.

As he headed up stairs and down the hall, he peeked into Shikadai's room and saw that he was asleep. Strangely enough, it was still pretty early for him to sleep, and Shikamaru wondered where Temari was. His question was answered when he stepped into his own room, and saw one long bundle in the middle of his bed. Her golden hair peeked out from under the sheets, her usual ponytails undone for the night. Even strange for her to be asleep, as he had known her to be more of a night person. But probably most disappointing was the fact that he couldn't try and talk to her tonight.

Shikamaru took off his clothes and hung them up behind the door before wrapping a towel around himself and stepping into the bathroom. He closed the door tightly so that the noise wouldn't wake her up, and then turned up the water to full blast. He undid his own hair and stood under the steaming hot water for a few minutes, enjoying its warmth. Reluctantly, he came out of the shower after a while. When he opened the bathroom door, to his surprise, Temari was sitting up on the bed wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts, hair-down and staring at him as he stepped out of the bathroom virtually naked with nothing but a towel covering his private areas. They both reddened up a bit, Shikamaru embarrassed that his wife was staring at him while in such an inappropriate state, and Temari because she was once again reminded that her husband was in fact a _really _good-looking guy. Shikamaru stuttered as he began to address her.

"Uh, hey, sorry I woke you," he said. Temari nodded her head.

"It's alright," she said as he walked across the room to their dresser. "Um, have you... had dinner yet?" She offered him, hesitating as she saw him beginning to put on his own pajamas, almost getting a glimpse of what was under the towel.

Temari was still mad at him, no doubt. But she was also a bit mad at herself for going after him like that. And the reason why she offered him dinner was the same reason she had him eat yesterday despite her mood. She realized that Shikamaru _was _still in fact working, for her and Shikadai. He might've made a few mistakes but... even she didn't want to send him to bed without a full stomach. The urge to take care of him was still there, and maybe it was a bit of her motherly instinct as well.

"Yeah, actually, I wouldn't mind," Shikamaru said as he did his hair again. He took a quick breath. It was now or never. "And uh... I don't know if you've already eaten or not but, do you think you can join me?"

That made Temari's heart stop. It was an unexpected move, but she eyed him with interest as she slipped off the bed and began doing her own hair again. "Of course," she said.

Temari brought out some stuff she had in the freezer and warmed it up for him, brewing him a cup of tea while she waited. Shikamaru sat at the dining table awkwardly as she prepared him his food. She brewed a cup for herself, and as she finished and gave him his meal, she sat across him and sipped at her own drink while he ate.

They both didn't say a word to each other for a while. Halfway through his meal, Shikamaru decided that he would finally try to break the ice. And the person that he was, he took a deep breath and went straight to the problem.

"Temari, we have to talk," he said, doing his best to make his voice as firm as possible. "We have a problem, and it's only going to get bigger and bigger if we don't deal with it sooner,"

Temari looked up, surprised at her husband's sudden aggressiveness. Not wanting to fall behind, she instantly challenged him, doing _her _best to be as firm as possible.

"And what problem would that be?" She asked.

Shikamaru had his thoughts ready. "_You_ _and me, _Temari. We can't keep going like this. It's not about us anymore. Everything we do directly affects Shikadai. Please, Temari help me," he said, looking her straight in the eye. "Please, tell me, what is the problem? Temari, tell me how to fix this," he said, putting his hands together in a begging gesture.

Temari, seeing Shikamaru basically submit himself to her, felt something snap inside of her. She stood up from her chair, slamming her hands on the table and her eyes burning.

"How to fix this?" She yelled. "_How to fix this? _Shikamaru, you missed your son's birthday!" She shoved her chair back angrily, letting all of her pent-up emotions find their way into her words. "How could you _do _that, Shikamaru! How? You know how EXCITED he was? You know how PRECIOUS his face looked? Huh? Did you see any of that? NO! Guess not huh, and I sure as hell bet that you did not see his face when he realized that his own FATHER was not going to be at his special day!" Her vision blurred and tears rolled down her red cheeks once again as she thought about her son.

"What the hell, Shikamaru! What the hell is wrong with you? Do you seriously ONLY see us as a drag? Are we THAT unimportant to you? Are we THAT much of a burden to you? Why don't you just leave us then? Why don't you just leave us? Why, huh? _Why? _Just LEAVE!" She shouted as she slammed her fist down, crushing her tea glass and sending the pieces flying.

"This isn't the only thing! _Or _the only time! Where's the 'I love you's huh? Where is your time going? Where are your words going? Does Shikadai even know that you _care _about him?" Her voice cracked near the end of her words. She fell to tears, and made a terrible sound as they ran freely.

Shikamaru, meanwhile, was in shock. He had no idea that her feelings ran as deep as this, and an unexplainable hole was forming inside of himself, filled with guilt. Guilt for making her cry. Guilt for all the things that he did. The image she put in his mind stuck with him. A lonely Shikadai, expecting a father that never came. His feelings crushed, just because of one stupid and ignorant mistake he made. Shikamaru almost teared up himself, but Temari had one last thing to say.

"And..." She said between sniffles. "What... about... me?" Her voice softened and she looked at him with hurt and innocent puppy eyes. "Who am I even to you? Do I even mean anything at all to you? Do you not love me anymore? What happened Shikamaru, what happened? What did I do Shikamaru?" She broke down into tears again, dropping her head and resting it on the table, her tears falling lightly onto the wooden surface, darkening it with each drop. When she spoke again, she spoke in a whisper, almost to herself but loud enough for Shikamaru to hear.

"What did I do, Shikamaru?" She asked again, her anger subsiding briefly and turning into sadness. "What did I do? I swear I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean anything, I'm sorry please. I know, I know, I'm stupid, I yell a lot, I'm annoying. I know, you're busy and I'm the last thing that you should be thinking about right now, I'm sorry. I know, I don't understand, you work so hard for us and I'm worried about something like this, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry Shikamaru, I really am. I'm just so tired... I'm so tired and I'm so stressed. I love Shikadai so much I can't get him out of my head, I hate how you treat him, I hate how you treat me. But I still love you anyway. I don't know, maybe it's me. Maybe it's me, I'm so sorry if it's me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." her words faded out. She poured her heart into her apology. Her conflicting thoughts and feelings spilled out of her. She was just so confused, so lost. She blamed herself. She forgot about Shikamaru. It was her fault. She was the ignorant one. She was the negligent one. She was the one who didn't understand. She was the one who messed up Shikadai's birthday. It was all her.

She hated herself.

Temari heard the chair scrape against the floor in front of her. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears still finding a way out, sadly accepting that Shikamaru was leaving. She took in a struggled breath and heaved, a hard lump in her throat.

Then, to her surprise, an arm slipped around her waist, another at her stomach, lifting her face up gently. Shikamaru pulled her close to him. He buried his face in her neck, taking in her sweet scent. For one of the rarest times in his entire life, Shikamaru felt lost. Just as lost as Temari. He hated himself, and hated the fact that she was blaming herself when he was the cause of the problem. He hated every single time he took her for granted. So Shikamaru did the thing that he hated most.

He stopped thinking.

Shikamaru reached a hand up to Temari's face, wiping away her tears. She still sniffled and cried anyway, way too deep into her emotions to stop. She made a soft keening sound at the back of her throat, making small whimpers as she tried to turn her head to face him.

"Why?" She asked. "Why are you still here?"

Shikamaru lifted his arm up to her face, wiping her nose and pushing her against him, he gently pulled apart for a second to spin her around and press her face to his chest. She cried into it, her hands weakly flailing around to eventually rest on his shoulders. She hated this. She hated everything. She hated feeling this way. She hated crying.

Shikamaru hated to see her this way. He also hated everything. He hated seeing his beautiful angel cry, but she still looked like an angel nonetheless. He hated his negligence, his ignorance, his inconsiderate behavior. Hate, hate, hate. They were both filled with hate.

And through that hate, came love.

Most of all, they hated being alone. So they loved to be together, and they loved each other.

They loved being there. They loved being able to comfort one another. They loved being able to help each other, to improve each other. They loved being in each other's arms. So they stayed in each other's arms. They didn't say anything. Not a word. Temari's arms around the small of his back, pulling herself to him tightly. Shikamaru's around her shoulders, his hands stroking her back, going up and down her spine. Their heads rested on each other's shoulders. They held each other for a long, long time. Until finally Temari whispered in his ear.

"Why... why don't you ever call me 'baby' or something like that?" She asked, her voice still dry from her tantrum a while ago. She felt Shikamaru smile into her neck.

"Baby?" He asked.

Temari smiled back, "You know, something sweet, something cute. Just... a little thing. I'm a little bored of being called Temari," she said.

"Hm, actually, I'll do you better," he said. His tone became serious for a moment. "I'm sorry for making you sad, my sweet," He broke their embrace to stare into her eyes. "I'm sorry for making you cry, please forgive me, my darling. I promise to do my best to fix myself in the future. I promise to appreciate you more, to spend more time with Shikadai. I promise. I promise." He repeated.

Shikamaru lightly touched his forehead to hers. He placed his hands on the sides of her face and guided her face to align with his. Using his thumb, he brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. When he whispered his breath tickled her face. "Please forgive me. Okay, baby?" He said with a smile.

They kissed. Shikamaru pushed against her, using his hands to nudge her face towards him. He felt her lips part and took it as an opportunity to gently slip his tongue into her, closing the gap between them as he felt his tongue intertwine with hers. They deepened it, tilting their heads to allow the other access. Outside of the kiss, Shikamaru traced his hands down her shoulders and throughout her arms, taking her hands and guiding it to his hips as they locked into another embrace.

They broke for some much-needed air, panting and leaving a thin trace of saliva in between them. Both their faces were flushed, and the two of the looked at each other with a look that they had not seen for a long time: lust.

His hands were at her hips, and he pushed her up, trying to carry her. She responded and wrapped her legs around him, attaching herself to him. Shikamaru barely felt her weight, as strong as he was. He circled his arms around her, pulling her closer to him as they kissed another time. As he felt Temari starting to slip off, his hands went down to her bottom and pushed her up, while getting a sneaky squeeze of her backside. Temari chuckled into their kiss as she felt him grope at her. The moment they broke apart Shikamaru was on the move. He carried her upstairs and to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Shikamaru had not a single rational thought in his head. He was running purely on raw emotion, and it showed.

Temari giggled as she raised her arms, letting him pull her shirt over her head, leaving her in just her bra. She recognized the state that the once-genius shinobi had been reduced to. Once the shirt was off, he kissed her again. Temari ran her hands through his hair, undoing it and throwing the band aside. She loved the effect that she was having on him, an elite world renowned ninja and strategist now moving thoughtlessly like a dumb animal, completely focused on the erotic sight in front of him. He pressed his face to her bare stomach and teased her lightly, leaving tiny kisses here and there. After a bit more teasing, Shikamaru went low, and soon, the shorts came off, and not so long after so did the bra.

Temari stopped thinking herself and decided to give into her own lust as she ran her hands down her boyfrie- she meant, her husband's body. She had not felt this youthful for a while, and it became quite clear that they both still got it.

Inevitably, it wasn't a long time before everything came off, and the two found a steady rhythm. Even Temari's hair eventually undid itself do to their rough movement. Temari wrapped her legs around his waist again, letting out a soft moan from his ministrations. All her angry thoughts were gone, replaced with nothing but love and affection for the man in bed with her.

The strange thing was, this time around, the sex felt _different _in a way that both Shikamaru and Temari couldn't explain. Back whenever they coupled at night, sex always felt like a superficial thing, something that they did for pleasure, and that was pretty much it. But now, as the two wasted away into the night, connected with each other in the most personal way possible, Temari felt more than lust for Shikamaru. It was more than love, it was... almost like a powerful feeling of affection for her partner. It was like an unsaid, mutual agreement. They were both here, not just to pleasure each other, but to comfort each other, to fulfill each other, and to express their love for each other in the ultimate act of intimacy.

As Temari reached her climax, she also noticed that not only did she feel better emotionally, but she felt better physically too. This was probably one of the best rounds they'd ever had together. She bit his shoulder and moaned into him as she peaked, still conscious about their volume, very obviously not wanting to wake up Shikadai.

"Shi...m-maru," she breathed as she came down from her high. Shikamaru reached his own as he came on top her, taking his pleasure in a silent release. He came down slowly, pushing her to the bed and resting his weight on her. Both their bodies were glazed with sweat, both of them panting and breathing hard. Temari ran her hands into his hair again, pushing his face into her bare skin.

"Ah, fuck," he said, his tone sounding as if he was annoyed. Temari nudged him with her head.

"What?" She asked him. Shikamaru sighed and dug his head into a pillow. His senses returned to him and he mentally slapped himself. He and Temari fell into the same trap. Again. "What we do this time?"

Temari hugged him. "Nothing in particular," she said.

"We had a fight,"

"Yes, we did,"

"We fucked again didn't we?"

"That we did,"

"Was it good?"

"Best time in a while, actually,"

Shikamaru tried to pull away. "I hate you,"

Temari pulled him back. "I love you,"

"What a drag,"

Shikamaru rolled off of her, but she followed him, grabbing a blanket and throwing it on top of them as she settled her head on his chest.

They laid silent for a while, not exactly sure what to say to each other.

"Did we do the same thing again?" Shikamaru asked after a few minutes. "Are we just going to go back to the way we were?"

"I honestly don't know,"

"Well what if we-" Shikamaru was abruptly cut off as Temari clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up, just shut up," she said. "Stop thinking, Shikamaru. You let go of your thoughts for one second and look what we can do,"

"That's exactly why I _don't _let go of my thoughts. Because we end up doing stupid shit like this and nothing gets solved,"

"You can't think your way out of everything, how long will it take you to realize that-"

"It's _because _of that fact that I can't think my way out of everything is why I'm trying to do this!" He said, his voice rising in volume. He pushed her off of him so he could lock eyes with her. "Why can't you help me, Temari? Why can't you make your own effort to realize your own mistakes?"

Temari rolled her eyes. "Oh so we're back to _Temari _now, huh?" She spun herself around and bundled the blanket around her, pulling it away from him. "What happened to the sweet 'baby darling' from a few minutes ago? Faking your affection again? Guess I am still 'such a drag' to you,"

Shikamaru sat up and tried to pull the blanket back over him. "That's not what I meant,"

"Then what _do _you mean?" Temari tugged back, trying to keep the blanket's warmth around her. "You decide what's real or not. I'm just here to enjoy the ride, aren't I?"

"No, you're not," Shikamaru pulled more of the blanket towards him.

"Yes, I am," she pulled back.

_"No, _you're not," he pulled back.

"_Yes," _Pull.

"_No," _Pull.

"Well then _what _then?" She exploded. She let the blanket go and sat up, exposing herself. "Are you saying I'm _supposed _to feel this way?"

Shikamaru grabbed her shoulders. "_Yes!" _He said, which took her by surprise. Seeing her taken aback by his answer, he continued.

"Yes you _are _supposed to feel like this, Temari. Something like this isn't always going to be peachy. You have to please _stay w__ith me _as we go through this! You have to help me, _I _have to help _you. _Both of us! We are one working unit, not two separate halves. It's us against the problem, not us against each other. We have to enter and emerge through each of these problems _together, _Temari. _Together. _Please, I..." he stopped.

Temari's anger vanished once again. Shikamaru still held her tightly, taking a breather. He let out a labored sigh, shaking his head and leaning it down, resting his forehead on her chest. "I swear..." he whispered. "I swear I'm trying my best."

Temari didn't say anything. After a while she just dropped her face into his hair.

"You just have to make everything sound smart huh?"

Despite his feelings, Shikamaru laughed. A genuine laugh. "That was more than just sounding smart," he promised her.

He raised his head and hugged her, their first _real _hug for the first time in a long while. They were both still bare, and Temari welcomed his warmth as they dropped back down on the bed together, this time, mutually, throwing the blanket over each other's shoulders.

"So we get through this?" He asked. Temari nodded.

"Yeah,"

"Anything else you need me to hear?"

"I love you,"

Shikamaru chuckled. "I know,"

Temari looked up at him with innocent eyes. "Am I still a drag?"

"Not exactly," he smiled softly at her. "I love you more, _that's _why it's a drag,"

They snuggled close to each other. But as Shikamaru tried to pull her even closer, she stopped him.

"What is it?" He asked.

Temari went red. "Maybe... one more round before we go to sleep?"

Shikamaru stared at her, an interesting look in his eyes. _Women_, he thought. _The true enemy of logic. _

He propped up himself on his elbow and slid on top of her, kissing her lightly as he went.

"Of course,"

...

Shikamaru woke up late the next day. So did Temari. In fact, they both woke up to the sound of Shikadai crying from across the hall. Shikamaru jolted awake, seeing the light coming in from the window and felt a sting of dread as looked over at his clock. He vaguely remembered waking up to hit the snooze button on his alarm several times, subconsciously wrapping an arm back around Temari and going back to sleep. Kakashi-sensei was going to kill him.

They both rushed out of bed, picking up the clothes that they had carelessly discarded the previous evening. Temari threw a gown on and went to get Shikadai, then immediately to the kitchen to prepare his delayed breakfast. Shikamaru jumped into the shower, splashing himself with cold water and then hurriedly throwing on his uniform. He came downstairs and grabbed his bag from his desk, ready to zoom out the door.

"Wait!" Temari called after him. She rushed over to the door, a small wrapped bundle in her hand. "Don't forget your lunch," she said.

Shikamaru, panting and in a hurry, stopped and took time to smile. "Thanks," he said.

He ran all the way to the office. When he stepped in, Kakashi-sensei looked at him with murderous eyes. "Shikamaru! Where have you been? Courier's waiting for you, go give this to him! Now, now!" He tossed a package to Shikamaru. Running down the hall, Shikamaru bumped shoulders with a half-asleep Naruto.

"Shikamaru?" He asked. "Why didn't you leave yet?"

Shikamaru was confused as he ran past him. "Left what?" He called back to him.

Naruto watched as Shikamaru ran down the hall and out the door. He had just woken up a couple hours ago, falling asleep under the coffee table in the break room. He also realized that he forgot to send a shadow clone home last night. He was going to have a lot to answer for if he returned home. _If, _he returned home that is.

Shikamaru was on the move the whole day. When he finally got to open up the lunch Temari made for him, he thought it was the most delicious meal he'd ever tasted.

As he expected, he came home late. Like, _late _late. Everybody had closed up by the time Shikamaru left, and he walked home in a trance, still mulling over work. When he came home, he was met with a surprise as Temari greeted him right at the door. She was carrying Shikadai, who was strangely covered in what looked like... chocolate?

Temari didn't leave him any room to think. She shoved his son into his arms and pointed upstairs. "He's dirty, you're dirty, go shower him please," she said. "Dinner's ready but the two of you aren't getting any until you're both clean."

Shikamaru wordlessly took his son up the stairs in his arms. Shikadai wasn't really a fluent speaker, but he could point at things and imply certain actions. Right now in his father's arms he pointed right back at Temari and said, "Cake,"

Temari pinched his cheek. "Later, okay?"

She went downstairs as Shikamaru took him to the shower. Shikadai stared up at him quizzically. Temari was right, he realized. Shikadai stared at him almost like a complete stranger. As he moved around the room after to grab clothes and a towel for Shikadai, the child stared at him wherever he went, his eyes following Shikamaru's every movement.

Shikamaru dressed him up and did his hair. He stared back down at his son. He wondered what he should do with him. It was really late, he wondered why Temari would keep him awake for such a long time. Also why he was covered almost entirely in chocolate. Shikamaru showered himself and tried not to think about work, focusing all his attention to the little kid on his bed. Shikadai had eventually grown bored of waiting, and he just crawled around cutely on the bed, mildly interested in his surroundings.

"Shikadai," Shikamaru said, and the kid looked at him upon hearing his name. _Ok, so he responds to me at least, _Shikamaru thought. Suddenly, he picked up Shikadai, catching him by surprise. To his own surprise, he was heavier than he thought. Shikamaru wondered when was the last time he picked him up in a playful fashion.

Shikamaru unthinkingly _threw _the kid up in the air, thinking it would be fun for him. Apparently, it was. As Shikamaru caught him, Shikadai bursted into giggles, obviously liking what he did. Shikamaru chuckled and instantly smiled at the sight of his son laughing. He was pretty proud of himself of making him laugh. So he did it again, slightly higher this time.

Shikadai seemed to enjoy it even more, crying out happily as he came back down into Shikamaru's arms. His laughter was contagious, and soon enough both father and son were giggling uncontrollably as they swung each other around the room.

At one point, Shikamaru jumped up and onto the bed, taking Shikadai with him in his arms. He let Shikadai bounce off of him, landing next to him, still lost in a fit of giggles. Shikamaru wiped his eyes and glanced at his kid, wondering where he had been all these years. His face looked exactly like his, even down to the shape of his nose. The only differences was the shape of his face and his eyes. Shikadai still had considerable baby fat, so his face was a little rounder than Shikamaru's lean features. And his eyes were Temari's, not his. Shikamaru stared in wonder at the little kid.

"So you two are having fun, huh?" Said a smiling Temari from the doorway. "No wonder. I've been calling you two for the past ten minutes."

Had it been ten minutes already? It felt like they still had just gotten out of the shower.

"Ah, sorry about that," Shikamaru apologized.

Shikadai sat up when he heard the voice of his mother, instinctively raising his arms to her, expecting her to carry him. Temari smiled and headed towards them.

"And besides," she said as she picked Shikadai up. "Where's the fun without mommy!" She said with a jump, Shikadai in her arms and bursting into laughter again. She landed right next to Shikamaru and bounced a little bit before stopping and laying her head next to his, Shikadai laying idly on her chest. He looked just about ready to go sleep, and Temari stroked his hair lovingly.

"He's usually not up this late, is he?" Shikamaru asked, staring at the drowsy child.

Temari shook her head. "Usually no, but tonight is a special occasion, so I let him have an exception,"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. "What special occasion?"

Temari turned her head to look at him. "I told him that tonight we're celebrating his birthday. A _special _birthday,"

She tapped Shikadai's head playfully. "You still want cake, sweetie?"

At the mention of cake, all the drowsiness disappeared from his face and his eyes snapped open instantly.

"Cake?"

...

The cake was homemade, it was small and had three simple candles on it, with Shikadai's name elegantly spelled out in kanji. It didn't look particularly special, but it tasted great, and so did the grilled beef and rice that Temari had made for dinner.

They sung Shikadai a happy birthday, clapping their hands and cutting his cake. Temari hugged her son and kissed him on the cheek, and Shikamaru ruffled his hair and held him warmly. They took a picture, and ate half of the cake, putting the rest in the fridge. Before they finished cleaning up, Temari tapped Shikamaru on the shoulder. She slid something into his hand, and as Shikamaru felt it he realized it was a headband, similar to his own, but specially embroidered her could tell, with the seal of the Nara clan. She nodded her head towards Shikadai.

Shikamaru understood what she meant, and he moved forward to grab his son's attention. He presented the special band as a birthday present, undoing his hair and redoing it with the new band. Shikadai looked at his father with new eyes. Shikamaru didn't notice, but Temari sure did, and she smiled inwardly to herself, finally satisfied.

After a while Shikadai got sleepy, and Temari took him to bed. He fell asleep happy that night, even insisting on keeping his hair band on when Temari tried to take it off of him. She smiled and left him, closing the door softly and entering her own room, where Shikamaru sat on their bed, meticulously setting his clock to ring with multiple alarms around the same time.

Temari took off the robe she was wearing into her usual pajamas, and crawled into bed next to him. He still sat up for a lilttle bit, writing a few things down in his notebook. A tiny bit annoyed, Temari brought her hand to his back and traced his spine, asking him to forget about whatever it was he was doing and come cuddle with her.

Shikamaru stayed up a little more, actually enjoying the feeling of her fingers on him. But after a while he put his pencil down and shut off the light.

They wrapped their arms each other, Shikamaru actually trying to sleep. Temari was actually kind of hoping to get a little fun in before they slept, but at this point Shikamaru realized how exhausted he was after the entire day. She nudged him playfully, trying to get him to respond, but he just laid a hand in her hair and tickled her behind her ear.

"Not tonight," he said, not opening his eyes. "No sex, just us,"

Temari agreed with him, but it didn't mean that she liked it. She pouted a little.

"Fine, but promise me tomorrow," she said. Shikamaru didn't answer.

She nudged him again. _"Hey," _She said. "Tomorrow?"

He still didn't say anything. "Shikamaru!" She whispered fiercely, getting a bit desperate. "Tomorrow!"

"Well you sure are horny aren't you?" He finally replied. "Didn't expect that from the daughter of a Kazekage,"

Temari didn't care to entertain his insult. "Tomorrow?" She asked him one last time, a dangerous glint in her eyes. This time, Shikamaru did look at her as he answered. He shrugged.

"Sure,"

_A/N: _

_So there it is! Hope you guys enjoyed it, I had a lot of specific goals that I was aiming for with this story. I was really trying to potray how a relationship isn't always going smoothly, and that there is a lot of struggle and commitment involved in maintaining it. I felt like putting another sex scene or something, but I realized that would be kind of unnecessary, I decided that one was enough to move the story along, and I tried not to be super descriptive about it. Anyway, I don't think I'm going to be adding to this story, unless of course, people want me to. So if you guys would like to see a continuation to this or maybe even just a smut chapter I'd be happy to write something like that. But all of that aside, thank you all for reading my writing, don't forget to please rate and tell me what you think in the reviews. I appreciate all of you, **MageTalia **signing out, peace. _


	2. ChapterTwo

_A/N: Hey guys, I had a really fun time writing the last chapter. I really enjoyed playing with the romantic chemistry of Shikamaru and Temari's relationship, and I decided I wanted to add on to it. So this chapter starts a few days after the events of the last chapter. Thank you for the kind reviews on the last chapter by the way! Really encouraged me to write more. Hope you guys enjoy, please rate and review! _

_Rated M for language, adult themes and mild sexual content, Read at your own discretion _

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters_

A Konoha Couple: Shikamaru's Story Ch. 2

Shikamaru woke up that morning with nothing but a thin blanket thrown lazily over him. His wife Temari laid next to him in a similar state, on her side facing him. Shikamaru felt a wave of dizziness hit him, suddenly, and was rudely shocked awake by the cold morning air.

He slid off the bed and onto his feet, walking over to the bathroom. He shut the door and stepped into the shower. After he was done, he grabbed his hair band and did his hair before getting out. Temari was still asleep as he came out of the bathroom. He walked silently over to their dresser, trying not to wake her. He put on his uniform and got ready for work. Before he left, he took a moment to take a blanket and wrap it around Temari, tucking her up warmly. He ran a hand through her hair in goodbye as he left the room. Before he went downstairs, he snuck a quick peek into Shikadai's room, tapping him once on his cheek.

As he left the house that morning, he chewed on a granola bar, which was his usual breakfast. A few days earlier, Temari had tried making a warm meal for him before he left, but after a while he reassured her that he was fine, and encouraged her to get her sleep instead of chasing him during his early hours.

They had woken up the same way again, as with the past couple days. They hit a routine, and one that they had both become accustomed to and weren't planning on stopping anytime soon. It had barely been two weeks since they had their first big argument, which had been followed by their first real connection as partners. Shikamaru and Temari had both come to a new agreement, a silent effort to fix their broken relationship. They decided to be open about everything, could speak about anything at all. Anything. They both realized that their clear lack of communication was one of the things that they had failed to establish, and they set about fixing it. No matter how awkward, strange, or random a topic may be, they both agreed to approach it with an open heart and an open mind.

And of course, to add on to their new arrangement, the still relatively young couple fell into a regular nightly habit, their physical pleasure helping them maintain affection and reignite the love that they had left behind in their younger days.

The ride has gone quite smoothly so far, and Shikamaru was pretty proud of himself for holding it together. He had recently been informing Temari on some details on work, and Temari started to understand a little about the struggle that he was currently going through, and she was able to spare a little sympathy for him if he ended up coming home late or having an inconsistent schedule. As long as, of course, he later compensated her for his missed time by offering himself up to a slightly longer lovemaking session the next day. Temari was devious like that.

She, on the other hand, told Shikamaru about her own life, and the things she did on a daily basis, including taking care of Shikadai. So on Shikamaru's part, he could start to excuse those moments when she seemed a little volatile.

Overall, they had a pretty damn good system. Shikamaru had no idea how long this grace period was going to last, but he sure was enjoying it while he could. He didn't even mind her little sexual obsessiveness, but to be completely honest, he took pleasure from it too, so as long as it kept her happy he was fine with it.

Shikamaru's biggest fear was that he and Temari would be distracted by the sex and forget about their agreement. Shikamaru was very specific when he clarified that sex was not the answer to every problem, obviously learning from his past mistakes. It was them first, and more importantly, Shikadai first.

But despite the struggle, Shikamaru felt better than he had in a long while. For the first time, he truly loved Temari from the bottom of his heart. He would come home, exhausted, to a nice hot dinner, and an even hotter wife. He smiled at that thought now, already wanting to come home and snuggle with the blond beauty.

His smile quickly disappeared as he walked into the office and started work. Even so, he had a change of mindset, and looked at his work happily, now given new meaning. He was working to provide for Temari and Shikadai, and there was nothing else he'd rather be doing. As his lunch time finally rolled around, he was still in a pretty good mood, and he joined Naruto at Ichiraku's for ramen again.

Naruto looked considerably worse than the last time they ate together. He had bags under his eyes, and he talked low with his shoulders slumped forward. He did brighten up a bit as their food arrived, which he began devour immediately.

"So how's it going, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto barely looked up at him.

"Going where?" He said with his mouth full.

Shikamaru shrugged. It was a broad question. "I don't know, how are things at home?"

Shikamaru could see the light fall from his eyes. "Ugh," Naruto groaned. "Please don't ask,"

"Why not?" Shikamaru replied, eyeing him with interest.

Naruto buried his head into his bowl. "Hinata is ready to kill me," he said dejectedly.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked, intrigued.

"So this one night a couple nights ago, I forgot to send a shadow clone home like I usually do, and then when I showed up the next day, she had her Byakugan on the moment I stepped in the house." Naruto shuddered at the memory.

Guess I'm not the only one who got stuck with a terrifying princess, Shikamaru thought. "So how did you escape that situation without ending up permanent crippled?"

Naruto set down his bowl as he finished his ramen. "I uhh... made it up to her," he said awkwardly.

Shikamaru wasn't convinced. "Made it up to her... how, exactly?"

"So uh, the thing was, I realized Boruto was already asleep, and so to calm her down, I just..." Naruto paused. "I took her to bed basically, for like an hour or something. And I was flat-out exhausted y'know! And she was going like we were still 19! It was the worst night of my life." He finished miserably, laying his head on the table. "At least she calmed down though."

Shikamaru was genuinely amused. Looks like he and Temari weren't the only couple to fall into this trap. It also looked like it was time for him to give Naruto some much-needed advice.

"Alright well, look here Naruto..." he began confidently. He spent the next few minutes describing his agreement with Temari to Naruto. The spiky-haired ninja nodded as he listened.

"That sounds pretty nice," he said. "And you say you and Temari haven't fought for almost two weeks?"

"Yep," Shikamaru said proudly. "Two weeks and counting."

"Wow," Naruto said. "I'll give it a try. Hinata's never been one to be really open, so maybe it'll be something that can work for us too."

They headed back in good spirits. Shikamaru, especially. The person that he was, he finally felt comfortable in the position he was in: with him in control. He could assess and manage the situation with ease, and what was even better was that it was working as well as it was. For a slight moment, Shikamaru was feeling himself a little bit, and he had a tinge of arrogance.

But, of course, marriage is never that easy, not even for a genius like Shikamaru. And he was about to find out how difficult it really was.

...

That night started off as a pretty normal night. Shikamaru came home a bit early and was able to eat dinner with Temari and Shikadai, which of course put Temari in a good mood. She was happy to see her family together, and was a little extra nice to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru finished up an assignment as Temari took Shikadai to bed, and when they were both done Temari literally dragged him upstairs into their bedroom. They both had some energy to spare that night, and they enjoyed expending it.

When they were done, Temari snuggled up next to him, half of her on top of him and the other still on the bed. As they both began to drift off to sleep, Temari was hit by a thought and she tapped Shikamaru awake.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Mm?" Shikamaru mumbled as he opened his eyes to look at her.

"Before you leave tomorrow, can you put the trash up front please?" She asked him.

Shikamaru ran a hand through her hair. "Of course," he said.

She nudged him once. "Please remember, okay? It's garbage day tomorrow and they've started picking the trash up earlier now. Please make sure you don't miss it. It's all wrapped up in the kitchen, just take it outside as you leave, alright?"

Shikamaru's eyes were already closed. "Don't worry about it." He said.

Temari wrapped her arms around him, pulling the blanket up to their necks.

"Thank you, sweetie," she said softly. "I love you,"

Shikamaru didn't reply. He just squeezed her tightly before resting his head back, drained and tired from the day.

The next morning, Shikamaru woke up early, getting out of bed and repeating his normal routine, which eventually spelled out danger for him. Shikamaru was used to waking up early, but like it or not he was still pretty drowsy, and he did a lot of these things by force of habit.

And then, unawares to the consequences it would bring, Shikamaru failed to notice the neatly tied up bag in the kitchen. He grabbed his bag and went out the door, also not noticing the empty can outside his house. He went his usual route, chewing the same brand granola bar, at the same time everyday.

Oblivious to his mistake, he began his workday, later joining Naruto again for lunch. He was very pleased to hear that the advice he gave Naruto seemed to be working with Hinata, so he was feeling particularly full of himself.

Meanwhile, back at the Nara household.

Shikadai woke up sick that day, so Temari decided to let him stay home today instead of taking him to his preschool. She woke refreshed, but her mood took a quick downer as she realized she'd have to manage a sick Shikadai as well as run her errands for the day. Her mood deteriorated even further as she came downstairs.

As she saw that the trash was still there, she almost cursed out loudly, immediately wanting to go on a rant. But she stopped herself when she realized Shikadai was in her arms. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

It's okay, it's okay, she told herself. She gave her husband the benefit of the doubt and believed it was an honest mistake. Sure, it might be troublesome, but that's okay. She didn't want to make a big deal over a small thing. She tried her best to start her day just as happily as when she woke up.

Whenever she had to throw something out, she tried not to think about Shikamaru and the trash. But as her day got more hectic and the trash problem got a little more stressful, she became more and more agitated. But amazingly, she kept her cool.

When Shikamaru came home later that day, he was still in a pretty good mood, and had no reason to suspect that he had done something wrong. Temari smiled at him as he came in through the door, and for the first half of the night things seemed to be going pretty well.

At dinner, however, things started to take a turn for the worst.

It was while they were eating that Temari decided to broach the subject about the trash to her husband. She sounded nice and calm, partly because Shikadai was on the dining table with them.

"Hey, darling?" She asked Shikamaru. "How was your day?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "It was alright. Nothing particularly special."

"You forget anything this morning?" She asked him tentatively.

Shikamaru realized that something was up. "Umm, I don't think so," he said carefully. "Did I forget anything?"

Temari nodded. "I asked you to take out the trash last night, remember?"

"Ohh, yeah," Shikamaru said, relieved. He thought it was going to be something big. "Sorry about that, I'll take it out tomorrow."

Temari tilted her head. "It's a bit too late for that," she said. "It's once every week, and I missed it last week because of their new schedule, and I missed it again today because you didn't bring it out. So, it'll be about three weeks' worth of trash by the time the next pickup rolls around."

Shikamaru scoffed. "That's pretty troublesome,"

"It sure is," Temari agreed. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I got a solution," Shikamaru waved off. "Just leave the trash by the end of the week on Saturday, where I have to do my weekly pickup for Lord Sixth, and since the dump is on the way, I'll just take it there so you don't have to worry about missing it every week."

Temari noticed a small flaw in his plan. "But you realize that even a week's trash is still a lot, right? Where do you propose we keep all of that in the meantime?"

Shikamaru shrugged again. "Just leave it aside, I guess,"

Temari was still smiling, but her husband's overbearing attitude was starting to annoy her. Nevertheless, she kept a smile frozen on her face.

"Or maybe, next time you could just take the trash out as you leave?" She suggested.

"My method is more efficient," Shikamaru said, sounding annoyed. He looked up from his food. "Why couldn't you just prepare a little more and not miss them last week?"

Temari's heart bumped loudly. "It was a mistake," she said

"Yeah, and so was me forgetting this morning," Shikamaru shot back instantly. "And I have more on my mind than just taking out the trash, so why don't you just cut me some slack?"

Temari's smile was gone. "I'm not asking you for much, Shikamaru,"

"I know, you're not. And I just offered to fix your problem for you, isn't that what you wanted?" Shikamaru said defensively.

"I just wanted a little help-"

"Yeah, and now I'm giving you more help than what you asked for," Shikamaru spread his hands. "Why are you complaining?"

"That's not what I mean, Shikamaru,"

"I'm giving you a solution, Temari, taking time out of my own busy schedule. At least you could be grateful."

Temari felt blood rushing to her ears. "What about you being grateful for that all of that food that you just ate?" She snapped at him.

"So we're taking sides now?" Shikamaru asked. "Who's doing more and who deserves more?"

"That's not what I'm talking about, Shikamaru,"

"Yeah, you're talking about taking out the trash,"

"That's not the point, Shikamaru!" Temari exploded. "I'm asking for a gesture. Do you not understand that?"

"What I understand is that we need to get rid of the trash," Shikamaru said slowly, as if he were talking to a child. "And you're getting upset because I'm helping you?"

"I didn't need your help, Shikamaru!" She replied. " I could've woken up myself to do it, but instead I ask you for a small little thing, and you treat it like it's just another problem."

"Because it is! And it's one that I can solve! Why are you mad at that?"

"Because I don't need help, I need you," she said. "Is it that hard to show me a little love here and there?"

"As if I don't show you enough love every night?" He shot back. Temari rolled her eyes.

"That's not the point," she said again, frustrated.

"Yeah, I won't get the point I know," Shikamaru said. "Like I ever will with you damn women,"

Temari spun her head, furious. "You serious, Shikamaru? She asked. "You serious? We're going to fight in front of him and now you're going to cuss in front of him too? What kind of example are you setting for him?"

"What kind are _you_ setting for him? Kid's gonna grow up with a terrible taste in women," Shikamaru retorted. "Only hope he gets luckier than I did."

His words stung. A lot. More than Temari let show. She felt tears and instantly turned on him.

"We're arguing over trash. You call yourself a genius? Why don't you go figure yourself out."

Shikamaru didn't answer back, just stared at her. Temari stood up, picked up Shikadai and went over to the stairs.

"And you're just going to leave then?" He called after her.

"I'm doing what you did!" She yelled back. "I'm forgetting about the trash!"

Shikamaru didn't reply to her insult. He just stared at the empty chair, exasperated. Just when he thought it was going good, it couldn't get any worse. And once again, he was lost.

What a drag, he thought.

Shikamaru knew that there wasn't much to do now, except wait for her to calm down. He too took some time to slow himself down and try to control his emotions. He was confused, for sure, but he did his best to understand things from his wife's perspective.

As far as he could see it, Temari was asking him to help solve a simple problem, which he did. But now she was angry. Bewildered, Shikamaru tried to see where he had gone wrong.

So maybe she wasn't asking him to fix the trash problem. After listening to his wife's thoughts a few nights ago, Shikamaru tried to connect his emotions with his logic.

She wanted a gesture. What exactly did that mean? It was such a broad term. A gesture could mean multiple things. Delving into the deep end of feminine psychology, Shikamaru stayed sitting at the dining table for a few minutes.

After a while his head started hurting. The back of his head was throbbing with pain. Shikamaru didn't know whether it was if he had caught Shikadai's cold or if it was from Temari's confusing signs.

Shikamaru decided to skip working tonight. He shut off all the lights and lay back on the couch with a blanket draped lazily over his legs.

He didn't go to sleep easily. He took a painkiller but his head still pounded. He couldn't get his wife out of his mind, and he tossed and turned uncomfortably on the cushions.

At the same time upstairs, Temari was going through a similar problem. After such a long time of getting used to Shikamaru next to her, being alone suddenly felt ten times worse than before.

_Terrible taste in women,_ the words echoed in her head. _Hope he gets luckier than I did._ Temari bit her lip, hating the fact that such simple words could hurt her so much. It wasn't really the words, but more where they were coming from. Temari tried to fight it, but her feelings eventually overcame her own logic.

And now the only thing she could do was blame herself.

_He hates you_, said a little voice in her head. _You two were doing so well until you decided to mess it all up._

Temari tried to shake those thoughts out of her head. Suddenly she became self-conscious about her appearance. She was wearing her usual T-shirt and shorts, was there something wrong with that? Maybe she was showing off too much skin and he didn't like that somehow. Was it her hair? She forgot to wash it today, maybe that was problem. It definitely looked way too coarse and dirty. What about her actual skin? It was mostly clear, it should be fine right? She made a mental note to herself to start taking better care of her body. Another sudden fear manifested, she began to worry that maybe Shikamaru didn't like her anymore. There had been nights where she had excitedly brought Shikamaru over while didn't really seem eager to be kinky. He always passed that off as being tired from work, and Shikamaru still had enough stamina to give her a good time, but what if he himself just didn't enjoy it anymore? Temari twisted on the mattress. She subconsciously wrapped more of the blanket around her, as if she was trying to hide her hideous body. She curled up into a ball, bringing her knees up until they touched her chin. She forgot to turn on her nightlight, she realized. It was really dark. And cold. All of her anger and negativity towards Shikamaru were gone. She would give anything for him to be here right now. She was terrified.

Back downstairs, Shikamaru finally decided to quit trying to sleep, instead getting up and forcing himself to do work. His head throbbed a little less, but it was still there. After almost an hour of constant, annoying pain, Shikamaru finally decided that the reason for his headache was in fact his wife. He too had grown used to the feeling of her in bed with him, snuggled tightly in between his arms, sharing her warmth. The cold and rickety feel of the couch paled in comparison to her loving embrace.

So Shikamaru sucked in a breath, determined to keep his family together. He marched up the stairs, taking long strides, trying to appear as confident as possible, when in reality he walked on trembling legs, in pain and sleepy as hell. But he soldiered on.

The hallway leading to his room felt like he was walking across a thousand leagues. His bedroom door spiraled away from him, his eyesight collapsing on itself, limiting him to the point where it was as if he was looking only through a thin hole, the black edges around it getting bigger and clouding his field of vision. By some miracle he somehow managed to make it to the door.

Shikamaru leaned a head on the doorway. He did the best he could to clear his head, his next few decisions could either make or break him or his wife, and possibly their entire marriage as a whole. As he finally gathered up the courage to reach for the doorknob, he was startled as it swung open just moments before he would have swung it open himself. He was greeted by Temari, equally startled to see him there, still expecting him to be downstairs. She did a double take and looked away, gesturing for Shikamaru to speak first.

Her husband shuffled his feet. "I'm sorry." He said.

There was nothing more to say. Shikamaru could only hope that she could hear the sincerity in his voice as he said those two words.

Temari looked up at him. A feeling of desperation swept over her suddenly, and she attacked him for his words.

"Sorry for what?" She said, her tone low but never losing its edge. It was Shikamaru's turn to look down this time.

"For not taking out the trash," he began. "For not helping you, for not giving you what you wanted, whatever the hell that may be, for not loving you enough, and for insulting you."

At the mention of the insult, Temari's eyes stung a bit, but she was strong enough to hold them in this time. "Did you mean what you said?" She asked him.

Shikamaru shook his head firmly. "Never. You're the best woman I know. I can only hope that Shikadai can find someone as amazing as you."

The deep scars that his earlier insult had left in her closed, the pain disappeared. The words he said now glazed over them, healing them and warming them, fulfilling her. Temari held back more tears.

"You're not trash." She said simply, forsaking the use of anything lengthy for short and concise words that were terse and meaningful.

Shikamaru let out a small laugh. "I might as well be," he cocked his head. "Did I make you cry?"

Temari smiled lightly. "No, not yet," she said. "Did you want me to?"

"Maybe," Shikamaru replied, shrugging. "You look beautiful either way."

His compliment was a bit cheesy, but just like his insults, they meant more to her than he could ever know. She bit her lip this time, seriously trying to hold the waterworks in. At least for now.

"I love you, Shikamaru." She said impulsively.

Silence. Shikamaru stepped forward to stare at her. Temari looked up at him, and realized surprisingly that he was quite a decent amount taller than her. Shikamaru in his turn, finally smiled back.

"Did you wanna or something...? He said a bit playfully. He was happy when he saw her shake her head.

"No," she began. "Not tonight. You were right, it's not the answer to everything. What's really important is us, and right now I just want _you_, and nothing else."

Shikamaru was elated. "I'm so glad you finally understand." He said, sounding relieved.

Temari's smile grew a little wider, her cheeks flushing and some loose hair in her eye.

"I love you," she said a second time.

This time, Shikamaru did respond. "I love you, too." He said with his own grin.

And upon hearing those words, a satisfied Temari finally let her tears run free. They were silent tears, running down her red face, her heart pounding with emotion as she heard the solemn promise of love from the person that she admired most.

"Happy now?" She said, feeling like she had lost the game. So strange how his simplest words had such a strong effect on her.

Shikamaru kept his eyes on the girl in front of him, face in a trembling smile, cheeks red and tears flowing.

"Like I said, you're beautiful either way." He said, and was pleased to realize that he meant it.

"I love you." She said another time, asking him to repeat his words.

"I love you, Temari."

His promise, and her name. She was the luckiest girl in the world.

Temari raised her arms, opening herself up to him.

"I'm cold. Can we cuddle?"

_The End_

_A/N: There it is guys, I had so much fun writing this chapter. I feel like I handled the dialogue a little better in this one, and overall I'm super proud of this piece. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! Please don't forget to rate and review, let me know if you'd like me to write more of these, I would love to write more ShikaTema any day. Thank you for the kind reviews on the last chapter, and finally thank you all for taking the time to read my writing! _

_\- **MageTalia**_


	3. Lemon Chapter

_A/N: Hey, guys, sorry it's been taking me so long to get a new chapter out. I've gotten super busy the past few weeks, but I took some time to think about and write this new chapter. I didn't really know where else to take this story, mostly because I want to focus on my newer fic, but i took some time to write a bit of lemon just to end this story off. I don't think I'll be coming back to it, but that depends if I get anymore ideas. Anyway, please rate and review, hope you guys enjoy._

_Rated M for language, adult themes and sexual content. Read at your own discretion_

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters_

A Konoha Couple: Shikamaru's story Ch. 3

Shikamaru was at work when he received the good news.

He certainly was not expecting anything good, and usually whenever Lord Sixth called him to deliver news, it was more or so often bad. Or work-related. But today Shikamaru was given a surprise. As he came into the office, the normally burned out Hokage was quite upbeat.

"Hello there, Shikamaru," he said as the door shut. "Come sit with me for a second."

Shikamaru sat down in front of the large desk, curious to what information would be given to him. It was Friday, and he wondered why. Kakashi was taking the time to take him out of his work to talk to him, as this was usually one of their busiest days, especially in preparation with the weekend. But that was all explained when Kakashi finally broke the news to him. His eyes lit up and he immediately got excited. He could see old Kakashi's face twist up in a tired smile under his mask. Shikamaru got up and thanked him, grateful for what he had just heard. Kakashi waved it off and told him that he was dismissed.

And with that Shikamaru left the office, anxious to get home. It was still half past five, and he was already bubbling with energy. Shikamaru got back to his own office and zoomed through the rest of his work, turning everything in to the front desk just right after nine, heading home immediately. He had spent the last three and a half hours working nonstop with no breaks, doing his best to work at full efficiency and complete all of his assignments in record time. He couldn't even remember the last time he came home this early. Shikadai would be pleasantly surprised to see his father home early. Even more so Temari, who was aware of his busy schedule, but that was what he was counting on. Because she would be even _more _surprised when she heard the good news.

…

"A day off?"

Shikamaru smiled. "A _weekend_ off, actually." He corrected her.

Temari beamed. "A whole two days? Shikamaru!" She jumped up and hugged him, flinging her arms around his neck, a bright smile on her face. Shikamaru caught her and returned the embrace, swinging her around for a bit before placing her feet back on the floor.

She was still smiling. "Oh my god, there's so much we can do," she started excitedly. "We could go to the beach. We could go to that new amusement park that just opened up. We could eat out. We could… we could…" her eyes sparkled. "We could visit home."  
She paced around energetically, obviously enlightened by the prospect of visiting the Hidden Sand, her home. She was lost in her thoughts for a few seconds before she finally looked back to her husband.

Shikamaru was smiling at her softly, staring at her with a gentle look in his eyes. She looked absolutely adorable, pacing around excitedly with her cheeks flushed and a goofy smile plastered on her face. That's what he lived for. Making his wife happy made him happy, and that was that. Happy wife, happy life, as they say.

While Shikamaru was all for whatever it was that she wanted to do the coming weekend, he was still somewhat in a trance while staring at his wife, and after the prospect of a much-needed break from work became a reality, he was feeling the most relaxed as he had been in a really long while. So admittedly, he wasn't really thinking all that clearly.

When Temari got herself out go her head for a minute, she looked over to her husband, still smiling and happy, but now in control of her emotions and logic again. And as she did so she noticed the slight bags under his eyes, his weary expression and his tired smile. Her own smile softened, and she walked over to him taking his hand and leading him back to the kitchen, where Shikadai was waiting.

"Let me pamper you tonight." She whispered sweetly in his ear. Shikamaru had to agree. Temari smiled and pointed him up the stairs.

"Go take a shower," she said. "A nice, hot, long one." She added.

Once her husband was upstairs, she fed Shikadai his dinner and sung him a lullaby when she saw that he was feeling drowsy. He fell asleep right there in her arms, and Temari took him right up into his bedroom.

Shikamaru, meanwhile, laid in a bathtub with scalding hot water, enjoying the peace and warmth. He had been in there for far too long, but Shikamaru was feeling way too good right now. He had no work for two days. _Two days. _The thought of that alone made him want to just drift off into sleep. But little did he know his night was about to get even better.

Shikamaru fell in a daze, but he was rudely snapped out of it when he heard the door of the bathroom suddenly slide open. Immediately he sat up and tried to cover himself, but relaxed when he saw it was just Temari. He reddened up anyway, and he felt even more heat rushing to his face when he saw that she came in wearing only a towel. He turned away, and she shut the door behind her. Shikamaru heard the latch fall into place as she locked it for good measure.

Temari went over to the sink for a little bit, putting some sort of cream or ointment of her face, also whilst undoing her hair. Shikamaru eventually gathered enough courage to look up at her, placing his elbows on the side of the tub.

"You're looking particularly nice tonight." He said, his confidence returning. Temari chuckled and looked at him as she splashed some water onto her face.

"I did say I would treat you tonight, didn't I?" She replied, a playful tone in her voice.

Shikamaru had another snarky comeback ready to say to her, but he never got the chance. To his surprise (and he couldn't deny, to his pleasure as well), she turned to him suddenly and dropped the towel. Shikamaru's mouth went shut and he looked away, feeling a familiar flush rise up to his face. He squeezed his eyes shut, wondering if it was a dream. He quickly decided it was not when he opened his eyes to Temari carefully stepping into the bathtub with him. She slid down into the warm waters, joining him, leaning on the opposite side. Their legs tangled in the middle, and she giggled as Shikamaru struggled to find a place where he could rest his feet without making it uncomfortable for her. In contrast to his smart, lazy, sarcastic side, this flustered Shikamaru was a part of her husband's personality that she didn't get to see quite often.

Once they were comfortable, however, Shikamaru realized that he shouldn't care about what he should or should not be doing. She was his wife, he realized, and he had a right to be with her. And enjoy her while he was at it. So with new confidence once again, he reached over and picked her up by her arms to lift her on top of him and change their positions. Temari let him, and she even blushed a bit when she saw him glance down sneakily as her chest was lifted out of the water for a second, which she made no move to cover. She pressed her bare body against his, snuggling that same chest that he was fascinated by onto his own. Shikamaru enjoyed the sensation, and the feeling was twice as comforting in the warm water. He pulled her closer, savoring every contact that his skin made with hers.

His hand came to rest on her behind, but it would come up occasionally to stroke her back. They weren't particularly horny, but they were affectionate, and they weren't afraid to show it. Temari had her head in the crook of his neck, her chin slightly in the water. Her hands hung off the edge of the tub, lazily wrapped around him. Shikamaru slid his butt down a few inches, trying to adjust their position so that more of them would be submerged. Temari obliged and pushed him down, getting half of his head in the water. The only parts of them that weren't in the water now were a little over three quarters of their heads, their chins submerged and even Temari's bottom lip, and finally Temari's slender fingers as they delicately caressed the back of his head.

They stayed like this for a long time. They loved being there with each other, warm and comfortable, both of their embraces open and loving. Neither of them wanted to leave. After a while, Temari looked up to stare into her partner's eyes. A million words and emotions were shared between them as they exchanged looks. That glint in his eye was all that she needed to see.

Temari raised her head and caught his lips, locking them in a gentle kiss that was soon deepened. They broke for air, and each took one breath before they reconnected, eager to taste the one other. Her lips parted and she felt him slide his tongue into her, running it over her teeth, making her shiver. When they broke apart, a thin trail of saliva hung in between their mouths. They stared at each other, and Temari felt the gently caressing hand on her ass go from a tender touch to a full on squeeze.

And that's how they decided to leave.

They dried off most of themselves, but they were still damp as they came out of bathroom and onto the bed. They fell onto the mattress in another kiss, Shikamaru on top, Temari wrapping her legs around his waist, begging for him to have her. He fully intended on doing so, but before he went to the main event, he had a couple of things on his to-do list that he needed to take care of first.

He broke their kiss, and moved his lips to her neck, biting her with gentle force, which caused her to gasp in surprise. He sucked on the skin, leaving a mark that he knew would stay for a while, and was happy about it. He turned his attention lower, lower, lower, and got to that awaiting chest that he had gotten a glimpse of earlier. He stuffed his face right in between, marveling at their softness, all the while his hands went to their respective sides and treated the gentle mounds with loving caresses.

Temari arched her back, pushing her shoulder blades in and thrusting herself out to him, clearly loving what he was doing. She grabbed his head and pushed him into her, his breath leaving a teasing tingle on her bare, slightly damp skin.

Her hands were still on his head, and Shikamaru was still enjoying his time with her, but Temari decided to push him down even lower. Shikamaru obliged, but he still kept a hand up there, not quite ready to leave that area yet. He did however, change his mind when she pushed him past her stomach and to her lowest area.

She had her palms on his shoulders, and now it was her legs that wrapped around his head as she invited him into her nether regions. She gasped suddenly, whimpering at the touch of his probing tongue, but the small, quick inhales soon turned into drawn-out moans of pleasure as she began climbing up an orgasmic high. She brought her knees together and sandwiched him between her things, which he in his turn reached up to stroke, and another hand reaching up for her chest again. She curled her body forward, pushing him towards her and guiding his hands to her sensitive spots. Pleasure shot through her, and she shivered against the cold air, wanting more of his warmth. Eventually, she reached a climax, a bit quicker than usual, but that was mostly because Shikamaru was performing exceptionally well tonight.

Temari shook against him, thrusting herself into his face as she peaked. Shikamaru brought his head up and over her, pushing her to the bed again. She was still shaking after her orgasm, and she gladly accepted a kiss as he slid on top of her again. She felt something hard poke against her, and she realized that they were still a long way from being done.

Shikamaru's member was aching to get inside of her, but he restrained himself for just a little bit longer. He turned his attention back to her breasts, relishing the feeling of the soft flesh. He heard Temari gasp again as he latched onto one of them with his mouth, pleasuring her orally once again, all the while not forgetting about the other, tenderly groping the bare one each time he switched sides.

Temari was in cloud nine from all of his ministrations. When he finally decided it was time, he sat back on his heels and opened her up, spreading her legs. He looked hungrily at the marvelous sight in front of him, and Temari felt herself going red as he stared at her with lustful eyes.

He entered her slowly, teasing her. Temari groaned, complaining as he tantalizingly rubbed against her. Her legs found their way around him again, but after her first climax she had lost almost all the strength in her lower body, and now she could only wait and beg for him to hurry up and take her.

When he did, he had a complete change in attitude, slamming all the way into her on the first thrust. She cried out in surprise, then immediately brought her hand up to her mouth, trying to muffle any other sound she might make.

"Mmf!" She went into her palm as Shikamaru pulled out only to go back in with twice the force. Her whole body was in ecstasy as he thrusted in and out of her. She thrust her own hips back into him, trying to get as much of him inside of her as possible. She whimpered every time they joined together at the center, her hand still over her lips. They moved in tandem with each other, connected. She was loving it, but she was worried about their volume. That problem was solved when Shikamaru caught her lips again, opening them up and messily French kissing with her, tongues intertwining. She moaned loudly into it, her thoughts about noise forgotten.

Shikamaru had his hands on her hips as they broke apart. She bucked under him, and he went deep inside of her, throwing her legs over his shoulders so he could reach new depths. He hit something, and instantly knew what it was he was making contact with. He brought his head back a little just so he could delightfully gaze upon his prize. A beautiful and sexy Temari, hair undone and her body bare, her face a deep shade of red and her eyes rolled up in pleasure. She didn't think about keeping her voice down now, she was feeling way too good to care. Her moans grew louder as she reached her second climax, intertwining her fingers with his, begging him not to stop. Her breasts bounced with every thrust, and it was a sight that held Shikamaru's attention while he pounded into her.

"Shikamaru!" She cried out suddenly. "I-I think…I'm going to…" her eyes closed and her mouth opened up, tongue lolled out in pleasure. Shikamaru kissed her neck, sucking on that same spot as before.

"Go ahead," he encouraged her. "Have your fun, my sweet."

This time, Temari became conscious of their volume once more, and she bit into Shikamaru's shoulder like she usually did whenever she came.

"Mmm…k-keep…don't stop…p-please." She said into him, getting close. She dug her nails into him as her orgasm started to build.

Shikamaru obliged and and increased his speed slightly, worrying about Temari before himself. Temari cried out once again as she came, then taking it all out on one long, drawn-out moan as she came down from her high. She breathed heavily onto his ear, her hot breath tickling him. She bucked her hips a few more times, trying to ride the amazing feeling for as long as she could.

And now glad that she was finally taken care of, Shikamaru decided it was about time that he satisfied himself. He repositioned himself and kissed her again, silently telling her to get ready for his turn. After the sensational experience that he had just put her through, Temari saw fit to return the favor, opening herself up to him as he started moving again.

Shikamaru still had a long ways to go. He had been enjoying their round so far, but until now he had only been focusing on pleasuring Temari, like he always did. Now, it was time for him to have some fun. He pounded into her just like earlier, except slightly rougher this time, Temari noticed, as he was now focused on treating himself. His hands left her hips and instead grabbed the sides of her stomach, getting himself more leverage to ram into her. In a few minutes Temari felt another orgasm starting to build for her as well.

Shikamaru ran his hands up and down her stomach, savoring the smooth flesh there. He groped at her breasts again, only this time instead of the delicate care that he usually gave the two mounds, he resorted to rougher, more aggressive squeezes as he indulged in them, which Temari didn't really mind, although she did admit to herself that they might end up a bit sore after how hard Shikamaru was working them.

Speaking of which, she realized, a _lot _of her was going to be sore after this. She was running up to her third orgasm of the night, and also considering the fact that Shikamaru was _definitely _not an easy man to keep up with in bed. Few women would be able to handle him as well as Temari did, and even she was beginning to struggle.

She came a third time, not quite as strong as the last one, but it was enough for her to feel the toll it was taking on her. She let out a small exhale as she came, her legs shaking and falling to the sides of the bed. She whimpered loudly, still feeling indescribably amazing but at the same time incredibly tired. Around this time Shikamaru too was finally reaching his edge, and in a final attempt to get his own best enjoyment, took hold of her wrists and flipped them, so that she would be on top and wouldn't have to use her legs. She rode him silently, genuinely exhausted now, but not being able to deny that the new position was stimulating other parts of her and was starting to build yet another arc again.

Thankfully, Shikamaru was finally able to cum, and Temari felt relieved as she felt him spill inside of her, his hotness spreading inside near her womb. He groaned once before catching her as she began to fall down on him, resting her on top of him, his hands however still exploring her, his left at her ass, and his right still cupping her breast on its respective side.

"Ohh…ohh," she breathed as she finally settled down. She almost forgot all about the weariness she had felt just seconds earlier.

"Oh my god…oh, Shikamaru, you were amazing." She said with a tired smile, kissing him on the cheek. Her husband smiled into her, his hands still on her.

"So were you," he said. "The way you looked was the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

"Are you satisfied?" She asked him.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Temari's heart stopped, and she turned to look at him. "You guess?" She asked again, a strange tone to her voice. "What do you mean 'you guess'?"

Again he just shrugged. "I mean, I dunno…I had fun. Like we always do, I suppose." He said flatly.

Temari almost felt her her heart in her mouth. Immediately she was struck by a sudden fear that she had thought about a few days earlier.

Temari had been in an absolute state of euphoria. She had loved every second of it. She felt so good and was certain that there was no other man that could satisfy her as much as he did.

But did Shikamaru feel the same way?

He instantly noticed her silence. After all of their past arguments, Shikamaru had learned from his mistakes, and he knew something was up, and did not hesitate to address it.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sitting up and taking his hands off of her. He sat up firmly, blanket in his lap and legs outstretched. Temari put her knees together and sat on her heels. Her legs were crossed, shielding her private area, and an arm went over her chest. Whenever Shikamaru made eye contact, she broke it.

He eyed her carefully. "Temari?" He asked another time. "What's wrong?"

She still kept her eyes down. Shikamaru sensed unrest in her and he was ninety-percent sure that she was scared. Of what, he didn't know. But he _was _ninety-percent sure, and he decided to have faith in his deduction, and that was a pretty strong percentage to go off of.

Shikamaru did his best to put on a comforting tone. "Hey," he said as gently as he could., taking her hand. He tilted her chin upwards to meet his eyes, which she saw were filled with earnest concern. "You can tell me anything, I promise."

Temari hung her head, and her usually bound hair fell onto her face, obscuring her eyes.

"Did…did you enjoy it?"

Shikamaru was surprised. He thought it would be something more serious. "Did I enjoy it?" He said, bewildered. "Temari, I loved it! Is this what you're concerned about?"

"No, I-I just…"

Shikamaru shook his head, genuinely saddened. With her hand in his, he used his other to reach up and brush the stray locks from her face, caressing her cheek and laying an affectionate thumb under her eye.

"Temari, please stop," he began. "You got to understand something."

His other hand left hers and joined his partner at her face, cupping the opposite side in a similar fashion and forcing her to lock eyes with him.

"I…" Shikamaru stuttered. "I…I love you, Temari."

The words felt strange as they left his mouth, but they weren't completely foreign. He had said it multiple times, to her and Shikadai. The only difference this time was, he was the one who said it first.

Which was something that Temari took notice of instantly. She knew her husband inside out, literally and figuratively. And whenever there was an aspect of him that she didn't recognize, she was always ready to explore it. When he opened up, and the words left his mouth, her head tilted slightly, without her knowing it. There was a familiar glint of curiosity in her eyes. Shikamaru thought that it reminded it of him of a confused puppy. And looking at his wife now he thought that she was the most adorable thing in the world. And that, he realized, was exactly what she needed to hear at this moment.

So he tilted his own head, matching her movement. "Are you insecure?" He asked her, in a soft and gentle tone but the the question direct as ever nonetheless.

His blunt phrasing urged Temari to be blunt as well, and without thinking, she blurted out, "Yes."

Shikamaru tilted his head the other way, and smiled a little bit as she mimicked his action unconsciously. "Are you worried about your body?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

It was her turn to shrug. "I don't know." She said, trying to break eye contact with him once more by trying to drop her head again. Shikamaru shook her and raised her eyes to his, not letting her escape him.

"Tell me why."

Temari still tried to look away, this time averting her eyes. Shikamaru held her even more firmly and moved his face forward until he was almost an inch away from her, their noses slightly brushing, his closeness forcing her to stare back. She still said nothing. She felt terrified under his stare. Most of all terrified to stand up to her own demons, which is what bothered her now.

Shikamaru grew infuriated. "If you're not going to tell me, I'll just go back to work tomorrow anyway," he said. "If you're going to be acting like this, I am not wasting my weekend and my time here with you."

Temari was struck with a sense of panic. "No!" She blurted out.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me why I should stay."

Temari really didn't want to cry. She certainly didn't feel like crying, and she was sick of it. Most of all, she hated the feeling of helplessness that came with it. That she was always running to her big strong husband whenever she had a problem, and so sensitive that she couldn't even handle her own feelings. And now even worse, fail to pleasure him, barely making him cum once before tiring out and giving up, even while he had done such a good job to treat her. The whole night was her idea after all. She was the one who came into the bathroom with only a towel on. She was the one who was trying to be seductive. She was supposed to be treating _him _tonight, as a big loving thank you for all of his hard work and dedication to their life and relationship. And yet _she _was the one who ended up enjoying the night, not him.

Temari just stopped. She dropped her head forward, and this time Shikamaru didn't stop her strangely enough. She took her arm off her chest and fiddled with her fingers.

"Shikamaru, you've done so much for me," she started. "Ever since I exploded a month ago, you've done nothing but be sincere and make an effort to help. And I love that. And Shikadai loves that. And today…" she paused, realizing her voice was about to reach a strange pitch and was about to crack. After taking a deep breath and stabilizing herself, she continued.

"Today was supposed to be my treat to you," she said with a sigh. "I've done nothing but bitch and complain, and least I could do, once you finally have some time off, was pamper you and give you time to relax and enjoy your break. But instead, _I _was the one who ended up having fun." She finished dejectedly.

Dammit, she _really_ didn't want to cry. She bit her lip, scolding herself mentally for being so vulnerable. The prideful princess of the Sand, now reduced to an insecure and useless housewife.

And yet, Shikamaru took her hand. Both of them. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers, forcing her head up. When she glanced at his features, she saw him sprouting a sweet smile.

"Temari, Temari," he said. "Aw, my Temari. Is this really what you were worried about?"

He shook his head ridiculously. "Of course not. How could you say that about yourself?" He asked her, pressing his forehead against hers once more.

"You're a princess, Temari. And that's more than I ever could have asked for."

Temari didn't cry this time. She was pretty sure she had that under control by now. Instead, she just hugged him. Hugged Shikamaru. Hugged the love of her life. Hugged her husband, as tightly as she could. And she didn't let go for a long time.

Eventually, they fell to the bed, and Shikamaru threw a blanket over the two of them. Temari, already exhausted, fell to sleep almost immediately, snuggled tightly in between his arms. Shikamaru just shrugged to himself and pulled her closer.

Women, he thought. So illogical. And to be honest it wasn't the first time that thought had run through his head.

But suddenly, the words of his father, Shikaku Nara, echoed in his head.

_Men without women in their lives become good-for-nothings._

Now laying on the bed, naked and with a women by his side, Shikamaru Nara finally understood the wisdom of his old man's statement.

You're probably right, Dad, he thought.


End file.
